There is no denying that the Internet has become an integral part of our lives. With the internet, you can do anything you want. Or, to put it another way, it’s a must for us practically all the time. We require internet that is both quick and high-quality, such as 4G and 5G.
Internet outages make us bloated, because we constantly check to see whether or not the internet has been restored! YES! That’s where we’re at right now, and we’re making the most of it.
Our work will be halted and our time would be lost if we don’t have access to the internet. You can connect to the internet using either a computer or a phone. Those are the modem and the router, respectively.
It’s not clear what a router and a modem are. Modem and router are two different types of devices. A modem is a device that connects to the internet and is used to access the internet.
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Router vs. Modem: What’s The Difference?
A router is a gadget that allows you to connect several devices to the internet simultaneously. Both the modem and router are necessary components of your internet connection, but they are not the same thing.
It’s not uncommon for people to confuse a modem and router. Both modems and routers are capable of transmitting data packets from one location to another.
Both the modem and the router have ethernet connections and LEDs to indicate connectivity. However, compared to the router, the modem has fewer ethernet ports.
A public IP address is assigned to the modem, whereas a private IP address is assigned to the router. The modem connects to a wide area network (WAN) whereas the router connects to a local area network (LAN).
What Is a Modem?
There’s just one term you need to know to fully comprehend what a modem does. And “Translator” is the name of the game.
In order to understand what MODEM stands for, you have to look at the term itself, which is made up of the words “modulation” and “demodulation.” Modems are used to transform analogue signals into digital signals.
Digital subscriber line (DSL), cable, and the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) all have analogue counterparts in the modem.
There are analogue modems and internet service providers connected to your phone line. While utilising the phone, you can’t access the internet if you’re using an analogue phone.
Even though digital subscriber lines (DSLs) also use phone lines, their transmission is done outside the frequency range of voice calls.
This is a great feature because it allows you to use both your phone and the internet at the same time. The modem is connected to a router by a Cat 5 (Ethernet) connection and a coaxial cable, which both meet the same specifications.
Why Do You Need a Modem?
The modem is nothing more than a network translator, but it’s a need. Internet Service Provider (ISP) signals are modulated and demodulated into internet connections for your devices.
It encodes and decodes those signals from the transmitter and receiver. In order for your device to read the modulation signals, it must first be transformed to readable signals of its own.
The modem is the gateway to the internet. Additionally, the modem compresses data, corrects errors, and manages the flow of data while you’re online. Modem makes data transmission faster by grouping it and submitting it based on certain parameters.
The modem verifies that the data you’ve sent matches the data you have on your computer if error correction is enabled in data compression. It is returned if the modem is unable to find what it is looking for.
Flow management regulates the speed of the internet and wireless connections. In order to connect with each other, it analyses the varying scattered signals of our WiFi and Internet speed.
You may see this in action when the slow modem tells the fast modem that it needs more time to process the data. Later, the slow modem sends a second character to a faster modem to indicate that it is ready to begin transmitting data..
Why Do You Need a Router?
A router acts as a central hub, allowing you to connect a large number of devices to it. Using a single router, you can access the internet on all of your gadgets, including your smartphones, laptops, tablets, and computers.
Besides being renowned as a networking hardware, routers are also known for their routing algorithm. It uses a routing algorithm to tell the data packet where it should go next. Using the same router, all of these devices may access the internet.
Using the router, you and your friends can also communicate with each other. Routers come in two varieties: wired and wireless.
Antennas built into wireless routers make it possible to share a wireless network with other devices. However, in order to send and receive data from the internet, wireless routers must be connected via a cable to a modem.
What Is a Router’s Purpose?
Traffic handling between different networked devices is done by the router. It is possible for the router to see MAC addresses (media access control). The MAC (media access control) address is being tracked by the router and it makes sure that the data is routed to its assigned destination.
Let’s take an example, if you are watching a video on your phone router handles the responsibility that your phone gets the specific data and not your laptop that is connected with the same router.
Resources are easily shared over the network among the users by using the router.Resources such as files, folders, drivers, and computer peripherals like printers, fax machines, and scanners.
The router gives you a security that helps you protect from hackers and also helps you to protect your network from unauthorised people when they try to gain access. If you want to protect your router from hackers then you should secure it with a strong password.
You can log in to your router and set up your password. There are many settings you can do once you login into your router’s account like enable your firewall, use specific MAC addresses, and to restrict some devices to use your network, block websites, etc.
Although the router has many advantages and can do a lot more than the modem can. But it cannot itself connect to the internet, it needs a modem over there.
Conclusion
That was all about modem and router you must know. Don’t get confused between modem and router. Modem connects to the web while the router distributes its network to many devices. The basics will help you with modem and router settings.
Although the router is benefited much but cannot work if it is not connected to the modem. Using modem it can provide you with the internet. Thanks for reading.
